Wet Oxidation as a Complementary Variant to Conventional Processes for Wastewater and Sewage Sludge Disposal

Abstract

The basic principle of wet oxidation has been known for over 75 years; the first patent concerning this process dates back to 1912. Until the middle of the last century, wet oxidation was not used in the field of waste disposal, but only in the scope of chemical processes. In the fifties, wet oxidation was used for the first time for cleaning wastewater and sewage sludges. However, for a long time, application possibilities were limited to technically less demanding corrosive wastewaters from domestic, slaughterhouse, paper factory sources etc. Since the beginning of the eighties, this process has also been successfully implemented on highly corrosive process wastewaters derived from chemical production.